, 1887-03-02
4 QUAINT SPANISH CUSTOM.
The DID Time Amusement Of Ca>carone
MISUNDERSTANDING Sport.

Breaking-Esciting Sport.
Those who are acquainted with the Gus
toms If old Spanish w in California
know what cascarones are, and are prob
ably familiar with the ways of using
them and the additional enjoyment they
lend 10 all dances where they are used.
To such of our readers who are not well
posted in the matter we will attempt 20
give a few words of explanation.
The origin of the custom Of cascarone
breaking is probably surrounded with us
impenetrable mystery as the identity of
the Man in the Iron Mask 1t was
brought TO California by the early Span
i3h families from Mexico, and up to with
in a few years past it was al attractive
feature of every dance given during u
certain portion of the year Cascarone
season begins, according to custom. at ~
o'clock Christmas night and lasts till Ash
Wednesday, and any one of our old citi-
zens can tell of the grand times ut casca-
ronc balls in the '.flush days" when the
custom was at its height. Dances were
of almost nightly occurrence then, and
hundreds of dozens of ca%scarones were
broken in an evening, and many n poor
family derived a handsome income from
the manufacture and sale of cascarones.
They sold at 81 a dozen in the early part
OF the evening, and in the "wee srna'
hours when the commodity became
scarce, IN ounce of golddust has been
known to be given for a single dozen.
Many interesting stories could be told
of the cascarone balls of the past, hut
only one will be mentioned as an in
stance of the popularity of this peculiar
feature of the balls. On one occasion. ut
a ball given at the residence of Don jose
Abrego, Pete Serrano, then a muchacho,
was on hand selling cascarones. a gem
tleman approached and asked what he
would take for his cascarones. Lone
dollar a dozen,' was the answer How
many have your" was tho next inquiry.
Forty dozen" ssAll right, I'll take
them" Taking the basket, lie started
down the hall, but had not taken "A dozen
steps when he was surrounded by o.
number of young ladies, and in n moment
all hands were diving into the basket,
coming out with doubleliamdsful and
crushing them on his head, while he
manfuily strove to return q few of the
compliments he received. In five minutes
not one of the forty dozen cascarones re-
manned whole. Tho modus operandi of
cascarone making is very simple, and
about MS follows: Into an empty eggshell
whole, except for an opening in II
end just large enough to remove the
original contents-is placed about a tea
spoonful of finely chopped paper of
various bright colors and gold tinsel;
then the opening is neatly closed by
pasting n piece of colored paper over it,
and then the cascarone is all ready for
use.
In Mexico, in the good old times, cuando
habia mucho ORC, gold dust mixed with
diamond dust, was often used to fill the
eggshells ut the swell fandangoes given
by the old grandees. And it is done
occasionally nowadays by some of the
wealthy old Dons who wish to do the
thing up in style. Other ways Of filling
the shells was to use finally perfumed
powder, and sometimes rare and costly
perfumes were used. Very often the
shells We're beautifully decorated, and
sometimes hand painted. In Monterey,
before the decline of the custom, the shells
were often colored in fanciful designs like
Easter eggs, and at other times tastefully
decorated with different colors of paper.
Chopped paper and tinsel were usually
put in the shells, but on more than one
occasion gold dollar pieces were used
one in each shell. Spiced candy was often
used. and sometimes powder and perfum-
cry. Housewives religiously save the
shells of all the eggs they use and put
them away until caScarone season comes
around.
r., ..I,,..x.. IcanI-..,n 4, 10 ..at -
sary that one should be acquainted; in
fact, it is a sort of ''mashing' proceeding
all through. The act of breaking a cas-
carone on mother's head is TO be con-
sidercd a compliment by the recipient,
who is in honor bound to return it ut
the first opportunity. The proper way
to break them is to crush the shell
in the hand over the persons head,
allowing its contents to fall on the head.
In the excitement of the amusement,
however, the shell is more frequently
broken ON the head, regardless of locality
or force used. and is oftentimes suggestive
Of anything but amiable feeling on the
part of the bestower. When the ice is
once broken by some adventurous maiden
or plucky man the contagion ooL
spreads, and in a short time everybody is
chasing around the room, breaking cas-
carones Unfortunately, and receiving
them from all sides. These mock battles
usually occur between dances. Years
ago II sort of game was played in the
breaking of cascarones. 1t wa an OBJ
ject-like in the old game Of "tag''-to
break the last %carcarone ON another. The
one breaking the last was allowed the
privilege of asking the other every time
they met; ''How are my chickens" and
the other would be expected to give a
present for the benefit of the chickens
candy, etc. being usually given. This
was allowed to be kept up until the next
~cascarone dance, when the game was all